Origin boycott was music to my ears

YOU could cut the tension with a knife. Seventeen loyal servants to the game are about to unleash and give a hundred and ten per cent. The crowd is on tenterhooks. The atmosphere is electric. Everything hinges on the next two hours.

No, I am not at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. I am at the Sydney Recital Hall, about to watch the Australian Chamber Orchestra perform. Ironically, the address of the City Recital Hall is Angel Place. Footballers are not angels, and that is why I am here.

Here’s the deal. There was too much biffo in Origin I, followed soon after by those indecent assault charges against Blake Ferguson Enough was enough, so I took a stand. I said stuff ’em all. I decided to boycott Origin II and give my attention on Wednesday night to someone who actually deserved it.

Let me just say that I love my footy. I love all codes, but I especially love league. I love its toughness, its tribalism, its unparalleled brutality. But when that brutality is expressed with fists and night-time misadventures instead of raw athleticism, then count me out.

So here I am at the Australian Chamber Orchestra, or the ACO as the fans call it. To be precise , I’m at ACO2 – the young guns of the game who tonight are being given a rare chance to shine on the biggest stage.

It’s kind of like when Fatty Vautin coached that band of second-stringers to a shock 3-0 Origin series victory back in the mid ’90s. Kind of.

They key word there was second-stringers. The young maestros up on the stage before me are cellists and violinists. They’re good too. A classic blend of youth and experience, with ACO director and chief violinist Richard Tognetti admirably playing the role of captain-coach.

After the traditional softening-up period, the cobwebs are cleared and the night develops into an exhibition of exhilarating free-flowing play. The crowd is treated to some brilliant movements featuring some of the true legends of the game. There is Vivaldi and Stravinsky. There is Handel and Bartok.

At no stage do you feel the orchestra is just going through the motions. Throughout the performance, the group shows a real sense of urgency and gives their absolute all.

It’s amazing how they work together as a team. They communicate not just with their instruments but with their eyes, with their very breathing. As with most sports, footwork is paramount. So is timing. So is sublime hand-eye co-ordination, especially as the music reaches a crescendo on the stroke of half-time.

It is of course a game of two halves and the second period is even more demanding. The musicians extract every last ounce of effort, going the extra yard to ensure everything is perfect. The last thing they want is to die wondering.

In the final wash-up, they score a wonderful victory. A champion team will always beat a team of champions, and that’s exactly how it pans out. But while the victory belongs to each and every member of the group, classical music is the winner on the night. These people have old heads on young sets of shoulders.

Let me ditch for a moment the silly sporting clichés and make a serious point. In short, attending this performance tonight made me proud to be Australian.

Here we had 15 young Aussies from every state in the nation being fantastic ambassadors for youth. Like sportsmen, they never asked to be role models. Unlike sportsmen, they managed to be exactly that.

I accept that there will always be people who crave the basest brutality in sport. Many of you will troll me on Twitter later tonight. You will claim I am not a real fan if I can’t tolerate a bit of fisticuffs and drunken idiocy.

To you people, I say this. If you want playground bullying stamped out, you can’t have it both ways and accept violence on the footy field.

If you want safe streets at night, you can’t have it both ways and accept violence on the footy field.

Because the minute you say violence is acceptable on a football field, you’re sending a hopelessly mixed message. Well, you are. Either our footballers act something like civilised humans or they don’t deserve the TV-ratings which fuel their grossly-inflated salaries.

I’ll probably never go to the Australian Chamber Orchestra again. Not because I didn’t enjoy it, but because I prefer the beauty and wildness of sport. At its best, sport lifts us all. Tonight it so happens that I was uplifted by classical musical.

Maybe every professional athlete in Australia should go and check out the Australian Chamber Orchestra for themselves some time. They could learn plenty. I know I did.

Continue the conversation @antsharwood @newscomauHQ @A_C_O

AND NOW, THE FLIPSIDE. AN ARTS EDITOR GOES TO THE FOOTY

STATE Of Origin Two opened in Queensland with all the drama one might expect from a Wagnerian opera or Prokofiev Ballet.

The first act began with the arrival of cast members representing Queensland and New South Wales. Queensland's arrival eliciting the evening's first standing ovation and the Greek chorus' chant of "Queenslander".

While the harmonies needed work the enthusiasm of their delivery was inspiring.

It was only another one minute and forty seconds before the audience returned to their feet to celebrate Sam Thaiday's energetic solo dance across the line.

When Johnathon Thurston executed a perfect step-ball-change pas de bourre to send the ball through the stage left wings for a two point field goal the crowd again showed their appreciation.

For the next ten minutes co director Laurie Daly might have preferred the action to be spread across the stage but it was firmly placed on stage left, demonstrating a sad lack of foresight from the New South Wales director.

The first act ended with the blue cast managing to thwart any more of the maroon cast's attempts to score but not without some sterling attempts.

The second act took a bit longer to warm up with nearly ten minutes passing before the maroon cast found their line again.

It took nearly 55 minutes for the highly anticipated fight scene to evolve but when it did it involved all the players and loud baying from the Greek chorus filling the stands. Several cast members left the stage under instruction from the company manager.

As the second act progressed the blue cast members finally made their mark on the show with an exciting scene played out in the top corner.

Their effort was to be in vain with the maroon cast proving victorious.

After nearly 600 pas de deuxs and pas de tois, or as the locals call them "tackles" the game ended with a rapturous cheer from the audience.

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